Growing a business is hard work. This is equally true in the digital space. With the popularity of social platforms like Facebook and Instagram rising many businesses are looking to expand their reach to the digital arena. After all, social media platforms are a great way to reach a highly engaged audience for a fraction of the cost of other conventional advertising methods.

With this in mind, many businesses may be tempted into buying likes or followers to give the appearance of popularity and get a leg up on competition. Beware! Buying this sort of attention might hurt you more than help you. Engagement is very important in social media. You may have a million followers but if only one hundred of them are looking at your posts you do not have an engaged audience. Buying likes can also hurt you. A very high engagement rate can look very suspicious. A quick look through the profiles of the people liking your account will quickly show that most of your followers are bots.

The main reason why you should not buy followers or likes is the main goal of social media. You joined social media to show your work and have a direct line of communication and interaction with your customers. You want to be able to reach to real people who might be interested in your brand. By creating great content and developing a marketing plan you can grow your business and have a great platform to talk to your customers.